There has been a lot of talk in the media this week around the Governments plan to return children to school in phases. Please understand that we have had no official communication from the Department of Education, however, we hope to more information by the end of this week. When we are able to provide more information, we will communicate with you as soon as we can around what this looks like for our school context and community.

It has been so wonderful to see the images coming through the school email address of students celebrating Book Week at home. Congratulations to all the parents out there that were able to use resources at home to come up with some creative outfits.

We will be sharing the images in next weeks Newsflash.

I have been popping in and out of class Wellbeing Zooms this week to say hello to as many students as I can, and it has been so delightful to see their faces and praise them for their continued efforts on learning at home.

Friday Tree Removal

After an assessment of our trees we have been told that the two beautiful old blue gums in the McMillan playground need to be taken down and removed for the safety of the children. 

This will happen on Friday this week, 27th August. Due to the large operation needed to remove these trees, no children will be allowed in the McMillan playground or classrooms that day.

If you're an essential worker and your children need to come to school this Friday, please drop them off at the Abbott Rd COLA in the morning. Supervision will be available from 8:25am. K-2 children will still be dismissed from the oval at 2:55pm.

Kindergarten Orientation 2022

Enrolments are still open for all children starting school in 2022. If you have not yet submitted your child's enrolment, please access the online application through our website.

Due to current restrictions we are not allowed to hold our orientation days on site. Today, our first video presentation with detailed information for parents will be emailed to all families who have submitted an enrolment application.

If you are a Kindergarten 2022 parent, please download our SZapp and subscribe in the manage tab to the 'Kindergarten 2022' group. We will be sending all communication through this app.

Attention Year 5 Parents

Thank you to those of you who responded to the Year 6 Farewell Organisation Committee form through the SZ app.

The first meeting will take place on Monday 30th August 2021 at 3:30 pm via Zoom.

Dob't forget to get involved in Book Week at Home 

Each year since 1945 the Children’s Book Council of Australia has brought children and books together across Australia through CBCA Book Week. During this time schools and public libraries spend a week celebrating books and Australian children's authors and illustrators. This year, Book Week looks a little different. From home, you can still enjoy the literary achievements and participate in the celebrations. Attached are some activities you can try during Book Week.

Email photos: artarmon-p.school@det.nsw.edu.au 

Subject: Book Week Photos, remember to include your name and class

Wednesday activity link: 'Where in the World are the APS Teachers?' linkhttps://forms.gle/CTiePsAAdHAy8PFJA​

All submissions due Friday 27 August

Here is another family friendly art activity from Ms Simms.

It would be great if you could share some images next week of individual masterpieces for everyone to enjoy. If you have attempted one or all of the art activities, please email them to the school email address for sharing in next weeks Newsflash.

Here are a coupkle from last week.

Good luck!

The Education Department are streaming different activities every day students can participate in. These will be continuing every week throughout the 'learn from home' restrictions.

You can access them here:

https://education.nsw.gov.au/teaching-and-learning/learning-from-home/learning-at-home

These sessions are at 10am everyday, however, are recorded and can be viewed when it suits your family.

Get ready for more #EducationLIVE, 10am AEST daily:

Move your body, rest your mind and break up your day while studying for the HSC.

Monday 23 August: Feel calmer with a guided meditation by the sea with Luke McLeod, founder of Soul Alive.

Tuesday 24 August: Move your body with a short workout by Keep It Cleaner (KIC) Girls, Steph Claire Smith and Laura Henshaw.

Wednesday 25 August: Remember the bigger picture and back yourself. Triple J’s Tyrone Pynor talks about life and finding your ‘study sound.’

Thursday 26 August: Learn a short contemporary dance routine with Richard Cilli from the Sydney Dance Company.

Friday 27 August: Learn how to build resilience in tough times with 3x Taekwondo Olympian Safwan Khalil.

I hope everyone is doing ok this week and even through the wind and rain, managed to get outside for some exercise and have some time away from your screens. When popping into class wellbeing Zooms this week, I have been asking children what are the fun games and activities they play with their families without screen time. It has been so wonderful to hear the imaginative and creative games students have been playing at home. I heard a lot of forts and cubby houses have been built, along with card and board games.

Just remember, your child's mental health is more important than their academic skills and how they felt during this time will stay with them long after the memory of what they did during those weeks. Keep that in mind every single day.

This Term, our school will be participating in the Partners in Learning parent survey, another part of the Tell Them From Me suite of surveys (student, teacher and parent surveys) on student engagement. The survey asks parents and carers questions about different factors that are known to impact on student wellbeing and engagement.

Running this survey will help our school understand parents’ and carers’ perspectives on their child’s experience at school. These include: communication between parents/carers and staff, activities and practices at home and parent/carer views on the school's support of learning and behaviour. This valuable feedback will help our school make practical improvements. 

The survey is conducted entirely online on smartphones, iPads, tablets, laptops or computers. The survey will typically take 15 minutes or less to complete and is completely confidential. The parent survey will be conducted over Term 3 and early Term 4. Although participating in the survey is entirely voluntary, your responses are very much appreciated.

More information about the survey is available at: education.nsw.gov.au/ttfm. To access the survey for our school go to: http://nsw.tellthemfromme.com/bf9pq

The survey is available in 23 languages.

To read the above information in a different language. Please use the links below.

Arabic_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Chinese_Simplified_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Chinese_Traditional_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Korean_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Russian_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Tamil_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Thai_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Urdu_newsletter_text_parent_survey.pdf

Dear Band & Orchestra Parents,

We hope you and your families are continuing to stay safe.

Confirming current Zoom links for online rehearsals will remain valid until week ending Friday the 3^rd of September.

It has been great to see a high level of participation from Band & Orchestra students in online rehearsals and music tutorials. Thank you to all the students and parents for their participation and cooperation. Well done everyone!  

If you have a question regarding online music tutorials, please contact your tutor directly.  

For any general enquiries, please email your Band Coordinator or alternatively email band@artarmonpandc.org.au

Sydney Eisteddfod Update:

Congratulations to all students who participated in the Sydney Eisteddfod during Term 2. We recently received great news regarding the results:

Senior Band – First Place

Orchestra – First Place

Concert band – Second place

Jazz Band – Third Place

Junior Band didn’t receive an award but were playing one level higher than their age group. A great achievement.

Across all the Primary School sections, Artarmon Public along with Oakhill Public were the only schools to receive an award in every section we entered.

Well done everyone and a big thank you to our tutors and Band Director, Mr Walmsley!

Music Camp & Term 3 Band Event update

Unfortunately, due to the extended COVID-19 lockdown in Sydney, confirming the following events have been cancelled for Term 3:

• Ryde Eisteddfod
• Music Camp
• Track down studios recording session

Band & Orchestra Online (Zoom) Rehearsal Times:

Confirming all band & orchestra rehearsals will continue online (via Zoom) until further notice. All rehearsal Zoom links sent via email on the 18^th of July, will remain valid until the week ending Friday 3^rd of September.

Any future transition back to in-person rehearsals will be in accordance with APS (Artarmon Public School) and the Department of Education COVID-19 guidelines.

Please find following online (Zoom) timetable for all Band and Orchestra ensemble groups:

• Training Band: Fridays 8am to 8:40am
• Junior Concert Band: Tuesdays 4pm to 4:40pm and Thursdays 8am to 8:40am
• Concert Band: Mondays 8am to 8:40am and Wednesdays 4pm to 4:40pm
• Senior Concert Band: Tuesdays 8am to 8:40am and Fridays 4pm to 4:40pm
• Orchestra: Wednesdays from 8am to 8:40am
• Jazz Band: Thursdays from 3pm to 3:40pm

Zoom links for rehearsals were emailed to all Band & Orchestra parents on the 18^th of July. Please check your email and junk mail folder if you have not received. Alternatively email band@artarmonpandc.org.au

If your child is sick and/or unable to attend a rehearsal, please notify your Band Coordinator.

New Music:

During Term 3, Band and Orchestra students will be learning some new and interesting music pieces.

Emails have been sent to Band and Orchestra parents with links to the new music. If you have not received, please check your email/junk mail.

Tutorials:

Confirming we have moved to online individual/group tutorials for Band students.

If you have a question regarding your child’s tutorial, please email your Tutor directly in the first instance. Alternatively email Jane at tutorband@artarmonpandc.org.au

Band Committee 2021

A big thank you to all these parents who have volunteered to help with the running of band this year. Your assistance is greatly appreciated!

We still need to fill the following volunteer roles to assist with the running of Band in 2021/2022:

• Band Convenor 2022 (Co-convenor 2021) – WANTED
• Band Secretary 2021

Serena and Kali finish their volunteer Convenor/Assistant Convenor roles at the end of Term 4 (2021).  We need a new Band Convenor and Band Co-Convenor for 2022 and would ideally like someone to start in the Convenor/Co-convenor role(s) before the end of Term 3 (2021). This will allow time for handover/training and involvement in end of year Band activities. If you are interested in the Band Convenor role, email  band@artarmonpandc.org.au.

Many of the band committee roles & responsibilities are very flexible, can be performed from home with a laptop/computer and internet connection and fitted in around other work and/or family commitments.  

By volunteering you will be making a valuable contribution to the APS Community and the Band & Orchestra Program. Your child(ren) will love to see you get involved and it’s a great way to help with the local school community and to support the running of the APS Music program!

If you are interested in getting involved in the music program as a parent volunteer or would like more information about volunteer roles available email band@artarmonpandc.org.au

THANK YOU!

Dear Strings Parents, 

With only three more weeks of Term 3 remaining, online learning and (Zoom) String Ensemble rehearsals have been going well and the children are making good progress.

We have received great news in regard to the Eisteddfod results. Congratulations to all the students that participated.

• Senior Strings Highly Commended
• Concert Strings Second
• Junior Strings Highly Commended

Across all the Primary sections, Artarmon along with Oakhill Public were the only schools to receive an award in every section we entered.

This week’s joke.

Q: What music key do cows sing in?
A: Beef flat (Bb)

If students would like to send in a music joke, please do to strings.artarmonpandc@gmail.com

Please note that all music rehearsals, whether it is with the tutor or ensemble rehearsals, these will all continue to be online until further notice.

Here’s this week’s tip regarding sight reading for students to practice.

4. Say the note names and clap the rhythm

This is especially important for young players who are still learning to read the notes. Saying the notes aloud can help build their ability to read the notes. For older students, instead of saying the note names, they could visualise and familiarise themselves with fingerings whilst saying the rhythm using counting sounds eg, 1 and 2 and 3 and.

Update your details

If you are not receiving emails from the Strings Committee, you need to log into your parent portal and update your contact details immediately. A lot of information goes out via email that is not included in Newsflash.

If you have trouble logging into the parent portal, email your group coordinator or the strings address below.

Please let your strings coordinator know if you have not received an email link to attend ensemble rehearsals for Training Strings, Junior Strings, Concert Strings, Senior Strings via Zoom run by Mr Mansukhani. Please check that these invites are not in your spam/junk/promotions folder.

Payment Reminders

Please ensure payment to tutors.

Please check your email/junk mail for invoice and payment details. Thanks for your understanding.

If you have any questions related to an invoice or payment, email stringstreasurer@gmail.com

Ensemble rehearsals: Currently on ZOOM         

If your child is sick and/or unable to attend a rehearsal, please notify your corresponding Strings Coordinator.

Informative videos to help with string instruments.

If your instrument is out of tune, do not forget to have a look at these informative videos to help with string instruments. These videos will assist with how to tune and take care of the violin. These have been most helpful to ensure the violin is in tune during practice. Please watch with your child. https://www.youtube.com/channel/UCOP1ht4mHt0bLr-boSTZ9ig/featured

Volunteers needed.

We still need to fill the following volunteer roles to assist with Strings in 2021/2022:

• STRINGS CO-CONVENOR:  Assists Convenor with insurances, instrument purchases, newsflash writeups, replies to email queries, updates MSM portal, event planning, liaises with Strings committee, uniform shop, school, and Mr Mansukhani. Takes over the reins of Convenor for a minimum 2-year term. Requires work in your own home.  Approximately 2 hours a week.

By volunteering you will be making a valuable contribution to the running of the String program and your child(ren) will love to see you get involved. If you are interested in volunteering for one of these roles or would like more information, please email strings.artarmonpandc@gmail.com

Got a question?

If it is about your hired instrument or instrumental tutorial, please contact your tutor at first instance.

Alternatively contact our instrument coordinator or strings coordinator if required. For anything else please contact your Strings Convenor.

Tutorials:

If you have a question regarding your child’s tutorial, please email your Tutor in the first instance. Alternatively, email Jane at tutorband@artarmonpandc.org.au

THANK YOU!

2021 Strings Committee